Connecticut police: Toddler left in hot car dies

Associated Press

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. (AP) — A 15-month-old boy who was left unattended inside a parked car on a hot day has died, Ridgefield police said Tuesday.

Police were notified of the toddler's death at around 6 p.m. Monday, according to Capt. Jeff Kreitz, who said the boy had been left inside the car for an "extended period of time." He declined to provide further details and did not say whether criminal charges were being considered.

Temperatures approached 90 degrees in western Connecticut on Monday, the day that the toddler was found dead in Ridgefield, a town on the New York state line. Authorities said the cause of death for the toddler had yet to be determined.

More than three dozen children die of hyperthermia in cars every year in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Since 1998, more than 500 children have died from hyperthermia after being in a hot automobile, Connecticut State Police noted.

A Georgia father faces murder and child cruelty charges in the June 18 death of his 22-month-old son. The father has said he left the boy in the SUV for about seven hours after forgetting to drop him off at day care. In Florida, Sarasota police charged a 23-year-old man with aggravated manslaughter last month after officers say he left his 2-year-old baby in the car and she died.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon Kreitz did not provide any new information beyond a statement released to the media several hours earlier. He cited the ongoing investigation as the reason.